(ubuntu_demon) : my new laptop : ahtec X30

[ubuntu_demon]

I bought my new laptop!
http://ubuntudemon.wordpress.com/200...my-new-laptop/

Thank you everyone for your help,suggestions and feedback!

I bought an Ahtec Style X30 from Mingos (www.mingos.nl). They sell Ahtec laptops with Ubuntu on it. It's also possible to buy your laptop from Mingos without an OS at roughly the same price as ahtec sells them. Currently this laptop costs 1124 euro at mingos without tax and without Ubuntu pre-installed. I was lucky and I got a little bit of a discount.

I choose this laptop because :
-it fitted my requirements/wishes best
-ahtec and mingos are the only Dutch companies I know that sell mobile laptops without windows
-mingos has experience with Ubuntu on the X30

A week ago I went to mingos to try and see the laptop. I decided to buy it. I got my laptop last friday evening. I'm only posting about my new purchase now because I wanted to test it for a little bit first.

This are the specifications of the laptop I bought :

Mingos LT-13 = Ahtec Style X30
2,16 KG
13" , 1024x768
intel centrino
intel GMA 950 video
Intel T2500 Core Duo 2 ghz, 2 mb cache
intel ipw3945 a/b/g wireless
2 GB ram (DDR2 667 mhz)
80 GB Sata 5400 rpm harddrive
combo drive : cd-r/rw+dvd
laptop-bag
2 years of guarantee (1 year pickup and return)

I got 2 GB of memory because :
- I study Artificial Intelligence. Some day I might need to program something which uses a lot of memory.
- My goal is to use this laptop for at least 3 years and I want to be future proof.

$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS/940GML and 945GT Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #4 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) Serial ATA Storage Controller IDE (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
01:04.0 CardBus bridge: O2 Micro, Inc. OZ601/6912/711E0 CardBus/SmartCardBus Controller (rev 40)
01:0a.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments TSB43AB22/A IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/Link)
03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection (rev 02)
04:00.0 Ethernet controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8053 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 20)

It works near perfectly!

I'm having some small but annoying issues with the video. I will investigate some more and post about this later. I'm blaming it on xserver-xorg-intel driver. The driver is open source so I'm sure it will be fixed.

I'm still testing the laptop. I will use this thread to report some findings. Once Edgy is released I will put a review on the wiki.

My laptop search on this forum :

Help me find a good laptop
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=247158

My blog posts about my laptop search :

Some changes in my life
http://ubuntudemon.wordpress.com/200...es-in-my-life/

laptop hunt continues - feedback request
http://ubuntudemon.wordpress.com/200...dback-request/

Possible laptops - feedback request
http://ubuntudemon.wordpress.com/200...dback-request/

dutch Ubuntu forum thread :

help me een goede laptop vinden
http://forum.ubuntu-nl.org/topic/3066

dutch tweakers threads I participated in :

[Ervaringen] 12" Laptops Deel 2
http://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/...ssages/1062275

[Ervaringen] MSI Megabook S2x0 series (deel 3)
http://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/...ssages/1098331

[tseliot]

Congrats! It's a nice laptop.

I do agree with your choice of having 2GB of RAM.

[ubuntu_demon]

The normal harddrive temperature is 53-55 °C. Although I haven't put it through much work/testing yet.

Some testing I have done with cpuburn (burnP6) :

I used the cpu scaling applet to monitor scaling. I installed lm-sensors and sensors-applet to get my cpu temperature.

On top of my regular desktop (with some stuff open) I started burnP6 twice.

When I run one burnP6 (instead of two) only one core gets a full load and cpu-scaling happens only for that core. This is very neat!

The option "prefer power savings over performance" of gnome-power-manager doesn't seem to do anything regarding the cpu. There's no significant difference regarding scaling and cpu temperature.

There's a special "S" button on my laptop. Let's call it "in-S-mode" when it's used and "not-in-S-mode" otherwise.

Silent Mode Button
Pressing the key enables the system to lower its power usage;
therefore the fan speed is reduced to achieve lowest operating
noise.

ON AC :

normal CPU temperature = 50-52 degrees celcius, 50% scaling

burnP6 (twice) :

not-in-S-mode : max CPU temperature of 76-77 degrees celcius, 100% scaling

in-S-mode : max CPU temperature of 55 degrees celcius, 100% scaling, fan makes less noise

On battery :

normal CPU temperature = 50-52 degrees celcius, 50% scaling

burnP6 (twice) :

not-in-S-mode : max CPU temperature of 58 degrees celcius, 66% scaling

in-S-mode : max CPU temperature of 55 degrees celcius, 66% scaling, fan makes less noise

conclusions :

I also decided to always set "power savings over performance" and I decided to always run "in-S-mode".

update to clarify :

max temperature was only after a little bit of time of running cpuburn (burnP6)

[Perfect Storm]

Meh....I want a new PC too.

[ubuntu_demon]

Congrats! It's a nice laptop.

Thanks!

I do agree with your choice of having 2GB of RAM.

It's mostly a future-proof thing

[raycast]

How is battery life of that laptop?

[matthew]

Congratulations!! Nice looking piece of hardware. (Why does that sound like a bad pickup line? ...eww...)

[chaosgeisterchen]

I am hoping it lasts as long as you wish it to last

Great price for a notebook with that amount of power inside..

I find it funny that my 14,1" notebook is more lightweight than your new 13"

[Kateikyoushi]

Congrats for your first notebook.
My notebook does not have a fan still the hard drive temperature barely changes even under full load so yours won't reach the maximum recommended 60C either.

[John.Michael.Kane]

ubuntu_demon that what i call ultra portable. nice machine.

How much does it weigh? from the pictures i would guess 1.5-3lbs